Weekly Inspirations: March 31st, 2017

Here are the things that I think are worth reading and checking out this week:

Lessons from the World’s Worst Manager

It doesn’t matter if you’re a chef, fitness camp counselor, Acura dealership overnight security guard, MCI telemarketer, or project manager—I’ve been all but one of those things, by the way—at some point, you’ll think, “Things would be so much better if I were the boss.” Maybe it’s because you’ve been doing the same thing for too long and you’re burned out. Maybe your organization has a culture of treating employees like they’re children instead of hiring them because they’re great and then letting them be great. Maybe it’s because your manager just really sucks. Hey, maybe you just have a bad attitude. Workplace happiness isn’t what this is about, though. What it is about: the things I learned when I was put into a position of leadership without any experience, mentorship, or training. These examples are from my time running a kitchen, but you can apply them to any job. Yep. The world’s worst manager was me.Read the article

Follow your passion’ is wrong, here are 7 habits you need instead

It’s common wisdom. Near gospel really, and not just among young people and founders. Across generational lines, sentiments like those from Steve Jobs’ 2005 commencement at Stanford have been engraved into our collective consciousness: “The only way to do great work is to love what you do. If you haven’t found it yet, keep looking. Don’t settle.” In other words, follow your passion. There’s just one problem: “‘Follow your passion’ is dangerous advice.” That’s a troubling claim, but it comes straight from Cal Newport’s investigation into “the details of how passionate people like Steve Jobs really got started” as well as what scientists say predicts happiness and fuels great accomplishment. Newport’s not alone. In recent years, a host of leaders, academics, and entrepreneurs have all come to the same startling conclusion: nearly everything you’ve been told about following your passion is wrong. Here are seven habits you need instead.Read the article

Magic Leap Enlists Star Wars to Show Off Its Mixed Reality Prowess

For a while now, one of the most secretive projects in tech has been the work of Magic Leap, the Florida-based augmented reality startup. They haven’t shipped anything: there’s no dev kit, no nothing… but it’s raised $1.4 billion. There was clearly something special being worked on, but it hadn’t been seen publicly until today. Revealing a partnership with ILMxLAB, the “immersive entertainment” division of Lucasfilm’s Industrial Light and Magic (ILM), Magic Leap released the first video demo of their technology, and it’s amazing: C-3PO and R2-D2 in some random living room, with R2-D2 projection a holographic map onto a real table. While it’s apparent to a point that it’s CGI, it looks amazing, and you immediately “get” why Magic Leap has so much interest.Read the article

Mobile Device Metrics

A nice comprehensive resource for sizing, resolution and more across mutliple devices from Google Design.Read the article

Google Design ReSizer

As designers and developers of digital products, one of our greatest challenges is figuring out how to serve the right UI to our users at the right time. No matter how they’re using an application, be it a phone or through VR, manipulating it with gesture or a mouse, on the latest and greatest tech or a hand-me-down 2G, it is our responsibility to make our products accessible to everyone—and that’s a pretty tall order. There’s no simple design solution to fit every need. We’ve started to offer Material Design guidance around breakpoints, responsive grids, surface behaviors, and user interface patterns. Now with Resizer, we have a dynamic way to test out that guidance and help spur meaningful conversations between designers, developers, and stakeholders about responsive UI.Read the article

Here are the things that I think are worth reading and checking out this week: INSIDE DESIGN: INTUIT Leslie Witt is...

Stephen GatesAugust 18, 2017

Creative Director, Designer, Brand Builder, Speaker, Podcaster, Crazy One.
As a designer, I have 20+ years experience creating the strategy, concepts, and designs for award-winning integrated global advertising campaigns, building multiple global Fortune 500 brands and creating innovative digital experiences. As a leader, I have 15+ years transforming agency and client-side teams using a mix of creativity, business strategy, process and political skill to create innovative, world-class work and cultures that change industries and companies. My clients have included American Airlines, W Hotels, Disney, Citi, ExxonMobil, Acura, Old Navy, Nationwide Insurance, Verizon, Subaru and many others. My work has received over 150 international awards, my app designs have been named as one of the World’s 100 Greatest Apps, Apple has featured my work in 9 keynotes, 4 TV commercials and more.